S a c r i f i c e
by kisshustar
Summary: Astrid and Hiccup find themselves stranded on a strange island, inhabited by a native tribe who seem to think that a sacrifice is necessary to keep a ferocious dragon happy... Can Hiccup save Astrid from a fate that she thought was long banished? AxH.
1. Discovery

Astrid cast her dragon an irritated side-glance, hands clenched at her sides. The Deadly Nadder simply yawned, snorting a bit as if she was laughing at her owner, then resting her head on large clawed feet.

"Why is she so... awkward?!" Her gaze shifted to Hiccup as he hastily averted his amused eyes, turning back to Toothless and adjusting his saddle.

"I guess it just means we'll have to share Toothless today, right?" His hands paused as he waited for her answer; they hadn't both ridden the same dragon until that moonlit flight they had shared, the time that Astrid had discovered what dragons were really like.

"Alright. Hurry up then." She gave her dragon another irritated glare before making her way over the grassy bank where the dragons usually stayed, watching and waiting as Hiccup prepared for the flight. She smiled slowly as a thought popped into her head.

"Can I go in front?"

Hiccup gave her a questioning look at her question before frowning, one hand on his dragon's saddle as he prepared to mount him.

"Uh, why?"

She casually moved over and pushed him aside, placing her hands in the space where his once were.

"So you can teach me." She gave him another glance and Toothless wiggled about impatiently, snorting a bit.

Hiccup sighed; he knew how determined Astrid was, and Toothless certainly wasn't in the mood to wait around for them. So he nodded.

"Go on then... I guess it'll be interesting to have the back view for once."

Astrid jumped up into the front seat of the saddle, helping her friend up and into a comfortable position as he struggled to find his bearings, finally clutching her round the waist as they took off into the sky.

"Wait, Astrid, pull- no, that's the wrong one!" Hiccup leant over her shoulder in frustration as Toothless let out a confused roar, swerving off to the side and almost hitting one of the large rocks that surrounded Berk in numbers.

"You were telling me to pull that one!" The young Viking girl grit her teeth in annoyance as she grabbed the right rein, pulling the Night Fury back up into the sky and making sure he was flying steadily again.

"It's hard to tell from the back seat..." Hiccup muttered, hugging the girl in front of him closer as he cast her hands a nervous look, wondering what he'd got himself into.

"Hey Hiccup..." His eyes jerked upwards again suddenly as he noted the girl's uncertainty in her voice, sitting back slightly.

"What-" Green eyes blinked as they settled on a massive, almost-black cloud in front of them, dangerously close- and the swirling amount of air underneath it.

"What is that?" Astrid eyed it in wonder and confusion, but was distracted as she felt Hiccup's hands rising from her waist, grabbing the reins from her hands.

"I don't know, but we have to get away from it and warn the village. _Now_!" His voice became urgent as he leant over her, pulling Toothless to one side as he tried to steer the dragon away from the colossal cloud ahead of them.

But it was too late for that.

The swirling air were like hands as they grabbed at Toothless' feet and wings, reeling him in as he fought, squirming and roaring furiously.

"Come on buddy, you can do it!" Hiccup yelled encouragingly as he tried to pull the dragon away from the hurricane's grip, hands and legs shaking as cold air whipped around the trio.

"Hiccup, he can't, it's too strong!" Astrid was struggling to keep hold, hands round the back of her as she clutched whatever she could find of Hiccup, making sure that they were both held onto Toothless as they were bucked around by the raging wind.

"No! He can do it, come onnnn..." His hands were like lightning as they switched from rein to rein, adjusting the dragon's tail with a desperate air, until finally...

"Toothless, I can see Berk! Land there, quickly!" He pulled the Night Fury into a dive as a patch of green and brown appeared, heart fluttering with fear but hope.

It was only seconds before they'd landed messily, crashing into a nearby clearing of the forest and uprooting a few trees along the way, both dragon and riders ending up in a tangled heap by a large crystal-clear lake.

Hiccup groaned. "Astrid... Toothless... You both okay?" A small snort and a moaned 'I think...' came in reply, movement pulling him out of a daze as he opened his eyes to find sky blue ones.

Astrid was underneath him, eyes searching him worriedly and hands still latched onto his clothes, sealed round his waist. They both stared into each other's eyes until Toothless growled, making her hands loosen as she carefully pushed Hiccup off herself, pulling away as they both glanced at the dragon.

"Toothless?" Hiccup stumbled to his feet, watching as the dark-scaled dragon bared his teeth, making a furious growling noise and whipping his tail around, wings held in by his sides.

"What's wrong buddy? You hurt?" The dragon's eyes darted everywhere and then he fell to the floor, looking around suspiciously and ignoring as his best friend approached him, looking him over.

"Hiccup..." A hand grabbing his made the young Viking look up in surprise to meet Astrid's gaze, blushing faintly as he found himself face to face with the girl.

... Then she hit him, raising a fist and punching him on the arm.

"Ow! Jeez woman, why do you always..." Hiccup rubbed his arm with a frown as he haunched his shoulder up, pulling his fingers away from hers.

"That was for blaming me for doing the wrong thing!" Astrid's face was set into an annoyed look, which softened as she leant closer to him, smiling amusedly as his green eyes widened.

"But this..." Her lips came into contact with his softly and she slid one hand into rusty-coloured locks, giving him a quick kiss before pulling away, watching as a goofy grin slid across his face.

"...is for saving us." She turned, almost running as she made her way up the hill, pausing at the top to glance back at him.

"I'll see you back at the village!" She smiled and even gave him a little wave, before disappearing.

Hiccup's legs gave way as he let out all the air that he'd been keeping in his lungs, slumping down by the dragon and leaning against his scaled side.

"Phew... She sure is something, right buddy?" Toothless only growled in reply, tail whipping from side to side, making Hiccup frown again.

"If only you could talk, then you could tell me what's wrong..." The Viking got to his feet and gave his dragon an uneasy look, watching as the Night Fury only huddled up.

Then, he heard Astrid calling.

"Hiccup! HICCUP!" He could see her wide eyes from the top of the hill, anxious and ...confused?

Hiccup's heartbeat quickened as he realised something was wrong. Astrid was hardly ever scared, but she looked so...

"Astrid! What is it?" Thoughts sped through his mind as he ran, using all his strength to make his way up to the top of the high bank that surrounded the lake. Had the village been attacked? Her dragon been hurt? Speaking of which, where was her dragon? She was usually around the lake but now she was nowhere to be seen...

Astrid's hand came into contact with his for the second time that day as she pulled him into the bushes... and pointed.

"I don't think we're in Berk anymore, Hiccup..."


	2. Capture

Astrid's hand elevated until it was pointing towards a small settlement below the Viking pair; but it definitely wasn't Berk. It wasn't even a Viking village.

Large, pointed structures pointed towards the sky, smoke steadily rising out of the top of a few of them. There was also a fire in the center, a few figures huddled round it.

"Where are we?" Astrid's eyes were big with wonder as they both looked down, eyes scanning the area. Hiccup's fingers closed around her hand that was still holding his at their sides, tightly.

"I don't know but, they don't look too friendly..." He gestured to a tree ahead of them- with a human skeleton hanging there, withered and worn; A dire warning to any trespassers.

A rustling distracted them both from their thoughts and Astrid turned before whispering "Get down!", tackling Hiccup round the waist and into the undergrowth.

Their breath mingled as she lay on top of him, eyes darting about as she heard footsteps walk past; fingers clutched at his as they waited...

And then a hand came down from above, ripping Astrid and her hand away from Hiccup and his, pulling her out of the undergrowth and into the air.

"Get off me, let me go!" She struggled furiously, glaring at the man now holding her; he was tall and had brown, tanned skin, with black hair tied back into a ponytail. His chest was bare, only decorated with two painted hand prints and what looked like paw prints of various different animals; his feet were unshoed too, only a pair of animal skin trousers covering his lower half. A spear was clutched in his hand, and he pointed at Astrid as dark eyes watched the stranger closely.

"It's alright, she's female. She won't do us any harm." His voice was quite deep, but he let out a pained grunt as the struggling Viking girl kicked him right in the stomach, almost causing him to drop her.

"Only female?! You just wait, I'll-" A hand was clamped over her mouth from behind and she was jerked from his grasp by two other people, hands being forced behind her back and tied with a thick rope.

"Did you have anyone else with you?" The tall man looked straight into her eyes, pointing the sharp stick at her again, right above her heart. But the Viking girl didn't even flinch, only glaring at him and spitting at his feet, trying to unbind her hands.

"Take her away. And search the area for any others." The man watched with disgust as Astrid was grabbed by two of his comrades, pushing her towards their village, her blue eyes livid as she glanced back, a murmur passing her lips.

"Hiccup..."

* * *

Hiccup had cringed badly when he'd watched Astrid being taken from him, but luckily, his mind worked quickly. They were surrounded, and there was no point in him being captured as well; maybe he could approach them later when he'd found out more about them, and explain why they were here. But for now, he had to get away.

Using Astrid's yelling and struggling as a distraction, he turned and began to crawl away slowly, making sure to avoid any of the tanned feet amongst the green. He could hear Astrid behind him and his heart lurched; if they hurt her, he'd... he'd...

He pushed any thoughts from his mind and forced himself not to jump up and run to Astrid's rescue; it wouldn't be much of a rescue, seeing as they were way outnumbered. Instead, he made his way back towards the small clearing, trying to be as quiet as possible as he found Toothless, still curled up and growling.

"Come on buddy, we have to go." Hiccup grabbed the reins and pulled himself onto the dragon's back, steering the dragon upwards as they sped into the air. Green dragon eyes searched his questioningly as they flew, a few snorts coming from him.

"Astrid's been... I'll explain when we have a place to hide. Wait, there!" Hiccup caught sight of a small cave as a valley of mountains came into view, turning the Night Fury to the left as they approached, landing. The pair made their way into the cave, Toothless sniffing the air as his human friend scanned the area carefully.

"Looks safe. Come on buddy..." Both dragon and human went deeper into the darkness, until they finally reached a stone wall at the back. A rattling noise at Hiccup's feet made him jump, head jerking down to see a small clay bowl of rusty red paste that his boot had knocked. Then he realised that the walls were covered in drawings- no, paintings... All of them were in the same red colour, the occasional splash of black; depicting people and animals. One man in particular stood out from all the rest, and Hiccup recognised it as the man who had grabbed Astrid. His fists clenched.

"He better not hurt her... Ugh, if only I was..." The Viking sank to the ground, holding his hands out in front of him and staring at them with a frustrated look. But even if he was muscular and strong, he couldn't have fended off all of those strangers...

A low growl from Toothless made him look up again; he blinked as he saw a startled girl in the entrance of the cave, staring at both dragon and companion.

"You are... who you..." She took a fearful step back, raising her hands in almost a defensive position as Hiccup stared, before rising to his feet.

"Wait, wait! We won't hurt you, just let me explain..." He forced a hand on the growling dragon's nose and pushed him back, making sure he had eye contact with the girl. His eyes scanned over her; emerald eyes that were similar to his, but full of curiosity and fear. Long, jet black hair that hung to her waist, decorated with a variety of feathers and beads, the same with the necklaces round her neck. Even her clothing was strange; a kind of dress made out of what seemed to be tanned animal skins, similar to Viking clothes but so... different.

"That dragon... He your friend?" The girl frowned in confusion, watching as Hiccup tried to restrain the large animal that was nosing him from behind. Hiccup laughed, nodding and rubbing the back of his neck, putting on a rather uncomfortable face as the girl looked him up and down.

"Yeah, this is my best buddy Toothless..." He stopped as the girl carefully made her way into the cave, her figure crouching down slightly as she made her way around Hiccup, meeting Toothless' green eyes. The dragon growled a bit before stopping, looking back with curiosity, making his way towards her, head tilting this way and that.

"It's alright, I think she's a friend... What's your name?" Hiccup's gaze went from his dragon to the strange girl again as he asked his question.

"Feather Wing." The girl replied quietly, eyes still focused on the Night Fury as he sniffed her arm, tail wagging from side to side. Her accent was like nothing that Hiccup had ever heard before, and she seemed to be struggling speaking in his language.

"Ah well, uh... I'm Hiccup, and this is Toothless... ...Do you come from the village down there?"

Feather Wing nodded, before meeting his eyes. "They brought bright-hair girl in few moments ago, and... had to get away..." She flinched when Hiccup took a sudden step forwards, eyes widening.

"You've seen Astrid? Is she alright? Have they hurt her?" He waited almost impatiently as the girl stared at him.

"As...trid? She fine... At moment... She with you? She friend?" Feather Wing frowned, watching as Hiccup's shoulder slumped slightly with relief.

"She is my... friend... Wait... At the moment? What are they going to do to her?" The Viking stiffened again, eyes filling with concern and anxiousness.

There was a silence, in which the girl looked down before speaking softly, almost in a whisper.

"Sacrifice..."


	3. Planning

Astrid struggled with the rope holding her hands behind her back, teeth gritted together. She was in one of the tents - she think she'd heard one of them say the word 'wigwam' when referring to it, but she wasn't sure - and it was incredibly hot, especially for her and her Viking clothing. The rope was biting into her wrists and the blonde made a frustrated noise as she desperately to wriggle her fingers away, but it wasn't working.

"Hiccup, where_ are_ you..." She leant her head back against the wooden pole behind her back, closing her eyes and biting her lip as she willed to just wake up and find herself in her bed, or somewhere similar. The Viking hated to admit it, but she was scared. She'd seen piles of bones that she was sure were human, and all the villagers kept giving her looks... looks full of pity.

Astrid sighed. And hoped.

* * *

Hiccup stared.

"... _What_? What do you mean, 'sacrificed'? You're not saying they're going to... to..." His eyes got bigger and rounder as he stumbled back against the wall, clutching at the rocky surface for support.

The girl only nodded. "It... long story..." Feather Wing's gaze met Hiccup's again as she glanced up, moving a strand of black hair behind her ear.

"How long do I have?" He gave her a worried stare, Toothless making a soft whining noise beside him. The girl sat on the ground, folding one leg over the other and closing her eyes as she sighed.

"Until sundown..."

"But that's only a few hours?! And why do they even need a sacrifice anyway?" Hiccup's expression changed from dismayed to worried to confused, all in a few moments. But she only laughed.

"About week ago, dragon appear... outside village. It steal animals, our food... we do not know what do. So, the tribe all meet and decide... Offer sacrifice to make dragon go away. But, we do not decide who, we cannot... Someone say, we wait for stranger to come to village. So, we wait..."

There was a silence in which the only noise was Toothless growling, Hiccup staring at the floor with a concerned expression. "And none of your tribe have tried to see what's wrong with the dragon? See if they can help it?"

Feather Wing shook her head. "We see dragon as god... Not worthy to help gods." She gave Toothless an almost fearful glance before biting her lip, glancing down so that her black hair fell like a curtain around her face.

But Hiccup looked thoughtful, the kind of face he got when he was hatching a plan. Probably something stupid... or crazy.

"I've got an idea to rescue Astrid... But I'll need your help, Feather Wing."

* * *

Only a short chapter, but the next is coming soon. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, I really appreciate it!


	4. Sacrificed

Author's Note: Thank you dear reviewers and readers, you're all totally awesome. ~ Expect some fluff on the way!

* * *

Blue eyes looked up as the fabric flap of the tent was lifted up; Astrid scowled as a group of men crowded around her, staring down at her with almost thoughtful expressions.

"You think she'll do?" "She's not very big, not much meat..." "The dragon god will probably prefer female to male..."

Her scowl fainted slightly as she listened to the mutters intently, being replaced by a steady frown. Lips parted to question but she was cut off as the ropes fell from behind her back, her arms only being freed for a second as she found heavy hands clasped around her elbows, dragging her into another tent.

"Hey, let me go! What are you going to do?!" The Viking struggled against them before feeling a sharp pain in her leg- and then her limbs fell heavy and weak, causing her to fall limp. She fought against her eyelids as they heaved her into a sitting position, her gaze watching as a group of women entered with various different items; bowls full of what seemed to be red paste, beads and feathers, and then finally, a long white dress, made of a floaty fabric she'd never even seen before. Her face contorted into a weak frown and she tried to speak, desperately trying to wiggle her fingers or form some sort of movement as the strange women crowded around her.

She started to panic as they undressed her, pulling the strange dress up and round her shoulders, and then pulling her hair out of it's usual braid, abandoning the thin bandana in the pile of her clothes that had formed in the corner. Then they started to paint her cheeks with swirling fingers, taking strands of her hair and applying beads with a careful air, all the while murmuring in a strange language; it was strangely hypnotic and made her feel... sleepy...

Then her eyelids finally fell, and everything went black.

* * *

_Hiccup...! Hiccup..._

Her wrists were freezing, along with her legs and arms; she could hear someone murmuring Hiccup's name, and she frowned. Who would dare say his name in such a tone except her...?

But then she realised it was her, and her startling blue eyes opened with a jerk, her whole body following with it- and being caught on the end of something tough.

She felt her arms tighten as her vision blurred into focus, blinking a few times and then frowning as the sounds of a crowd chanting filled her ears, almost deafening her. Her arms jarred sharply again and she glanced from either side of her, tugging at the strong ropes that were binding to her to a rusty-coloured rock either side of where she was standing, expression becoming annoyed. What the heck was going on...?

Then she noticed a pair of bright yellow eyes watching her intently and she turned, breath catching in her throat.

And then laughed.

She'd recognise the dragon anywhere; almost the same as Toothless, except it was a more exotic red colour, scales almost the same tinge as the rocks she was tied to. It was a Night Fury, rather a thin one - but a Night Fury still.

But then her laughing stopped as she felt a wave of a disgusting-smelling odour wash over her, squinting her eyes shut as her ears almost burst by a ear-shattering roar. Rows of sharp teeth came into view again and she stared with wide eyes, heart beating faster with human instinct. Then she watched as the dragon thrashed around furiously, causing the crowd of tribe-people to cheer louder, and she understood; it was being driven mad by the splintering noise filling the air, along with the hunger that came with the ribs that stuck out of it's body. And oh, it was mad.

With a sudden movement it made its way toward her again, eyes glistening, preparing for attack.

And Astrid, the second-best Viking warrior in dragon training, the one who'd been able to win all of the axe throwing contests every-time and could wield any weapon as easily as if it was an extension of her own hand, turned her head to the side, closed her eyes and prepared herself for the sets of teeth and claws that were about to be unleashed on her.


	5. Pain

There was a searing pain across her upper left shoulder and it felt white-hot, burning, and the whole world was spinning so fast and-

"STOP!"

The voice rang out and even the dragon stopped, one claw paused on the upper half of it's prey, yellow eyes gleaming as it turned. And roared.

Astrid didn't know what was going on, but all she could feel was her left shoulder, every nerve screaming and focused on that one part, but when she opened her eyes even a slither all she could see was a blurred vision of red.

And then it went black.

* * *

He couldn't believe they'd done this to her. Tied her up and- and offered her to some beast, as if she was nothing more than a hunk of meat, nothing.

Hiccup could feel himself shaking as he practically leapt onto Toothless, grabbing the reins and desperately urging the dragon into the clearing below them, his green eyes widening as he realised they'd been too late. He almost screamed her name but he stopped in a strangled choke, telling himself to stick to the plan, or they couldn't save her at all.

"STOP!" The lost scream finally came out as his Night Fury carefully hovered to the ground, rider leaping off in a urgent bound and holding his hands up to the furious red dragon in front of him. Behind lashing tail and flapping wings, he saw her as she fainted; oh and there was so much blood. So much. Her entire left shoulder was ripped, now a mass of red liquid and torn flesh, her arm dangling weakly with the rope that had bound her still draped from her wrist. He saw her head turn to her shoulder and then her entire body went limp, collapsing onto the ground as the remaining rope on her right wrist gave way, snapping and causing the girl to fall into a heap.

He wanted to run to her so much. But first, there was a dragon to sort out.

He could hear Toothless behind him growling at the other Night Fury, riled at the stench of his friend's blood, teeth bared as the other dragon let out a angry roar, moving towards them.

But it stopped with a start as Hiccup stepped in-between the two, holding his hands out with a nervous air, trying not to tremble.

"S-Stop it. We can help you, we don't want to hurt you..." He looked into the strange dragon's eyes and saw as it's pupils widened in surprise, jaws and tail relaxing as it stared at the human, trying to figure out why he was acting this way.

Hiccup flinched as he felt something brush by his side, but it was only Toothless, his features now relaxed; the Night Fury stepped forwards towards the other of his kind, head outstretched in an attempt, crouching slightly...

...There was a silence.

But then the other dragon graciously stepped forwards, touching nose to nose so red met black.

Green eyes stared in awe as Toothless began making growling noises, but not aggressively; he was talking to the other dragon.

The red Night Fury's eyes filled with something that was understanding, and then it's whole body wiggled, before vanishing like lightning into the clouds, gone.

Hiccup smiled.

* * *

Author's Note: Last few chapters coming up!


	6. Blossoming

Astrid groaned. She blinked, body jerking in surprise. And then pain.

"Ow..."

"Stop it, just stay still." A hand laid on her shoulder and the female Viking stared as Hiccup came into focus, pushing her back down again faintly.

"Hiccup..." Was her voice really that hoarse whisper?

"Yeah? You alright? Does your shoulder hurt? It will do, don't worry, but it'll get better." She watched as his expression became filled with worry, eyes searching hers. Green searching blue.

"What... What happened? And my shoulder does hurt..." She turned her head and glanced down at her now bandaged shoulder, eyes widening in surprise and shock. Then she remembered all the pain and a flash of red as that dragon had come towards her, teeth and claws bared...

"That dragon attacked you, but well, Toothless managed to convince it to go away." She saw a flicker of a smile pass through his face as he glanced away.

Then she realised where they were. She shot upright, filled with furious questions that went away as soon as another bolt of pain went through her shoulder.

"Astrid!" Hiccup made an exasperated noise and his hands darted towards her to help lower her down again, gently.

"Ugh... Why are we still here?! Those people tried to kill me-" "And now they understand." Astrid blinked at his interruption, watching as his eyes bore into hers, making the anger leak out of her completely.

"...Alright. Okay. How did you convince them?" She sighed, tearing her gaze away from his.

"Oh, you know, just stopped a dragon from eating you, and-" He stopped suddenly as light flooded into the tent they were in, the fabric flap that served as a door being lifted up.

Soft footsteps filled the room and Astrid's eyes filled with suspicion as she watched a girl with long dark hair walk up to Hiccup, holding out a jug of something. The stranger's eyes met hers and blinked.

"Ah, she awake..."

Hiccup nodded, reaching out to take the clay jug from her, hands outstretched. "Thanks."

The girl watched as Hiccup took a sip from the jug before offering it to Astrid, who shook her head; then she sat down on the floor in a cross-legged position, hands resting on her knees.

"They all think you are dragon god now." The girl shot a teasing smile at Hiccup who blinked in surprise and then shrugged. Astrid's eyes narrowed even more.

"Oh uh, Astrid, meet Feather Wing. Feather Wing, Astrid." His hands went between them, and the two girls eyes met again.

"...Hi." "Uh, hello."

"So, how long you be staying now...?" Feather Wing's eyes went back to Hiccup's again with another warm smile, watching as the Viking shrugged.

"As long as it takes for Astrid to get better, I guess."

"I'm fine. We can go now, I'm better." Astrid pushed herself up at once, ignoring the stab in her shoulder as her body protested, struggling to keep pain out of her face.

Then she felt an arm settle round her waist and blinked in surprise, finding herself getting pulled closer to Hiccup as his other hand sealed an tight embrace round her

"Don't be stupid, you're not going anywhere until you're _completely_ better." Astrid's mouth opened and closed as she stared at Hiccup, who smiled a bit as his cheeks went red- and then she smiled as well, resting her head on his shoulder carefully. It was strange, because she was unused to it; but she liked the attention, being close to him. his warmth. And she especially liked that forced smile now on the strange girl's face.

"She your soulmate?" The question was so sudden and in such a harsh tone that both Vikings' cheeks splattered with red as they blushed furiously, embarrassed by such a idea.

"W-Well, I- yeah..." Hiccup stumbled over his words for a minute before glancing at Astrid with a nod, a smile slowly coming over both their faces.

Then he felt himself being tugged closer by a hand curled round his clothes; his eyes shut as her lips met his, giving her reply to him in a kiss, warmth glowing from both of their faces.

When they finally pulled away, the space where Feather Wing was sitting was gone.

"Uh, do you think we scared her off?" Hiccup bit his lip with a slightly concerned look.

Astrid smiled and snuggled closer to him. "I think we did... soulmate."

* * *

Author's Note. Oh fluff. Lovely fluff. Poor Feather Wing. Don't worry, I'm not that mean though; you'll see in the next chapter.


	7. Together

"Hey, Hiccup. Hiccup!"

The Viking groaned as he was prodded and poked out of sleep, opening his eyes sleepily and staring as Astrid came into view.

He still couldn't believe he slept by her every night.

"I think we should get back to Berk today." She smiled tenderly down at him and brushed a few wisps of brown hair out off his forehead from the kneeling position she was in. Hiccup sighed with a dreamy air and nodded before realising her sentence, sitting up and blinking with worried eyes.

"Are you sure you're well enough? It's only a few days since..." He trailed off as the usual stubborn Vikingness came through in her expression, watching as the blonde folded her arms.

"I'm _fine_, I keep telling you. My wound's healing well." Both of their eyes glanced down to where her shoulder was bandaged with strips of cloth, covering a deep scar caused by dragon claws. It had kept her painfully awake over the last few nights, but it was always Hiccup's job to soothe her back to sleep, watching over her as she lay resting in his arms; stroking her blonde hair as she willingly accepted any comfort she was given. It was a different side to Astrid, one that only he could ever bring out.

"Fine... Today then." Hiccup gave her a smile and she returned it.

They were going home.

* * *

They were ready. Toothless was saddled up, both Astrid and Hiccup were dressed properly and goodbye's had been given to the tribe's people. All except Feather Wing.

Astrid jealously sulked as Hiccup searched for the girl, complaining that all she'd done was mess about and she hadn't really done anything, but Hiccup reassured and quieted her with a kiss and a sentence or two about how she'd helped him.

Eventually they both found her at the caves where Hiccup and her had first met, painting on the walls- but she wasn't alone. Another tanned and dark-haired one of the tribe's people, except it was a male.

Hiccup stiffened as he recognised the man who had handled Astrid so roughly when she'd been captured, but he simply glanced up in surprise and then smiled, brushing Feather Wing's arm gently as the two Vikings entered. The girl turned round in surprise and then gave them both a gentle smile.

"I hear you go home, today." Her arms were smudged with red and black paint, and she studied the pair as they nodded.

"Yeah... I just wanted to say thanks for your help." Hiccup gave her a sheepish smile as she looked over them, subconsciously noting how close his blonde girlfriend was by his side, her hand brushing his.

And then Feather Wing's companion was by her side as well, wrapping an arm round her waist and pulling her out the way, laughing teasingly as she squealed, whacking his arm.

Hiccup blinked.

Behind her was a painting of a black dragon, and it was obvious to see who the brown-haired boy atop it was, along with the blonde girl who sat behind him, hugging him at the waist.

"I wanted... remember you. Both, of you." Feather Wing's smile met Astrid and the Viking girl slowly returned it, realising that it was a sign of peace between them.

"Well uh... thanks. We won't forget you too! Any of you." Hiccup laughed sheepishly before casting the two tribe's people a wave and a goodbye as he and Astrid trailed down the hill again, back towards the village.

"I'm glad she's happy. And that she found someone else." Hiccup blinked at Astrid in surprise and then smiled at her, grabbing her hand and pulling her close.

"I'm glad too..." He began, but was cut off as he felt his lips taken by another mouth. He smiled. The adventure had finally made them realise what was important, and how they felt. It had been scary, and now they both had scars to share, but they were in love.

And so the two Vikings shared one, last kiss before they set off on their journey home, across the sea and back to their familiar world. Together.

* * *

Author's Note: TOLD YOU I WOULDN'T ABANDON POOR FEATHER WING.

Anyway, I think that's it for this fanfic. I might include a little aftermath bit where Hiccup and Astrid are back home, more fluff, me thinks.

Hope you enjoyed anyway, and all reviews are greatly appreciated ~ Thanks for reading!


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